(This is Kim’s homage to the seminal magazine of Native American art research, which sadly ceased publication in 2015.)
In November 1975, when the inaugural issue of American Indian Art magazine was released, I was 14 years old, and Native American art was the furthest thing from my thoughts.
Nine years later I made my first serious purchase of antique Indian art, a Hopi wedding basket from the 1920s, at an antique fair in Glendale, California (for $50, a bargain even back then, and a basket which is still in the collection, by the way). As Indian art grew from an interest, into a full-blown obsession, I became aware of the magazine. It was full of ads from prominent dealers and fascinating articles on things I could only dream of owning; I was enthralled well before I came to realize the significance of the articles and their authors. Pat and I subscribed and then searched for the back issues we did not have. I looked forward to every issue, it became an accomplice of my addiction, like the spoon that held the heroin.
Now American Indian Art magazine has announced it’s final issue will be published in August, after 40 years of quarterly publications, 160 issues in all. I will miss it with every fiber of my being.
For me, whose particular passion is historic southwestern art and the tourist era 1880-1940, there was always something to read and discuss in each issue, whether it was legal (NAGPRA) updates, book reviews or even the dealer’s ads. I also liked how professional it was, how it artfully walked the line between academia and popular writing; how, like no other periodical, it focused on antique Indian art (but not exclusively).
It could be said that American Indian Art introduced us to Barton and Margaret Wright, literally. If we had not devoured Barton’s article “Hopi Tiles”, especially the bibliography, in the Autumn 1977 issue then Pat would not have contacted Barton to ask where we could obtain Suzanne Love’s master’s thesis “Hopi Tiles”. In his gracious manner, Barton invited us to their home and allowed us to have a copy made of his personal copy of the thesis; this was the beginning of perhaps the most influential friendship in our lives, and one that would lead us to our own publishing adventures.
It was one of my great desires to be published in American Indian Art. We actually had a brilliant idea, one that likely would have passed the prestigious editorial advisory board, but the timing was bad so we declined to move forward for professional and personal reasons. Now that dream has come to an end.
After August 1, 2015 there will be no more articles about historic Pueblo pottery, or Navajo weavings, katsina dolls, southwestern jewelry, Navajo horse trappings, Apache playing cards, Plains beadwork, California basketry, or hundreds of other aspects of American Indian art. Will these articles find a new venue or be relegated to obscure anthropology journals?
Publisher Mary Hamilton and staff (shout out to editor Tobi Lopez Taylor), should be congratulated for forty years of publishing success. But I’m too heartbroken to extend any other accolades. I have never known a time during my collecting/researching/publishing avocation that did not include American Indian Art magazine. Will there ever be another periodical to fill the very large void being left behind?
Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog July 10, 2015.